Seasons
by Allekha
Summary: Many people have a season that he or she dislikes. So does the group. Now a twoshot. Chapter 2: Zuko, Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai all have a favorite season.
1. Chapter 1

Toph hated winter.

Winter meant snow. Snow meant cold. Cold meant wearing shoes and staying inside all day.

Some mornings she was able to sneak out barefoot, but she could never be outside for long before her feet were almost completely numb. Then she had to go inside and listen to lessons on things she never cared about and practice the same Earthbending stances she'd already done trillions of times in the years since she'd started Earthbending.

Winter also brought ice, which was nearly impossible for her to feel until she was already standing on it. That meant slipping and falling and getting hurt and staying inside for so much longer.

Toph knew that winter was a chance for the world to rest, but spring could never come fast enough.

* * *

Katara never particularly liked spring.

Sure, it meant the world was waking up, but the water...

The water could never decide if it wanted to remain frozen or melt. Often it would start to melt and then suddenly freeze again for days. It was so indecisive, that she could barely connect with her element, if at all.

In winter, it would stay frozen. In summer, it would stay melted. (Some of it anyway. Summer never melted _all_ the snow and ice at the South Pole.) In fall, it wasn't so bad, mostly content to keep freezing.

But the spring water was temperamental and couldn't make up its mind.

Katara knew that spring was the season for rebirth, but she sometimes wished that summer would hurry up and arrive.

* * *

Sokka never like summer as much as the other seasons.

Summer was the season of fire, for one thing. Fire meant Firebenders and Fire Nation and Fire Lord.

Summer meant that the ice and snow melted. It meant that he would have to go out in the canoe more often, and most times he had to bring along his sister. Thanks to their bickering, they'd scare away much of the fish, and they'd also find themselves lost. Then they would argue about whose fault it was, but by the time darkness would start to fall, they would always agree it was both of their faults and somehow make it back to the village before the moon and stars rose.

It was a pattern he didn't like. He hated arguing so much with his sister, and hated even more getting lost.

Sokka knew that summer was a season of life, but that did not mean he never wished for the world to start to die again.

* * *

Aang's least favorite season was fall.

Some called it autumn, some called it fall, but whatever you named it, the season was the same.

Gyatso said that fall was the season of air, that it was a wonderous season. He never saw it that way.

Fall was depressing, because the world died. Leaves fell from trees, flowers wilted, the grass faded, and the first snowflakes fell.

Snow was fun, but not much of it fell until winter.

Sure, the leaves turned bright colors, and animals could be seen scurrying about, stocking up on food, but the world was still dying.

Aang knew that the world need to die, but he often wished it would finish sooner.


	2. Chapter 2

Zuko liked spring.

Spring brought the baby turtleducks and coaxed his mother's flower garden to life. The grass turned green and the plants and trees sent out their leaves. Many of the flowers blossomed, painting the garden with bright colors. It was a wonderful place to be, among the birds and butterflies and humming insects.

Winter may not have brought extreme cold to the land of fire, but even there it made everything looked washed-out. Summer's heat killed off most of the flowers, although it was supposed to be the season that he loved most. It was the season that the comet would come by in, leading his father to victory in the hundred-year war.

Every year, Zuko waited for the awakening from winter and dreaded the first weeks of summer.

* * *

Azula loved summer. 

Summer was the season of fire, of course. It was also, for some odd reason, a season that made her brother a bit sadder at first, and his misery was her delight. Besides that, it was the season when they took vacations to Ember Island, when they were younger.

Spring was too nice and girly and full of talk about love. Fall - or autumn, whatever you called it - cooled the delicious heat that she so loved. Also, it was the season of air - of the the Avatar who still evaded them.

Every year, Azula anticipated summer and was not happy when it morphed into fall.

* * *

Ty Lee could hardly wait for fall. 

With fall came bright colors and cooled air that let her practice outside. With it came two names - 'autumn' sounded so nice! And it brought an air of relaxation that spring could never have.

Summer was so hot, necessitating the use of indoor practicing areas. Winter was so dreadfully boring and dead. Besides, both of them were so extreme, it couldn't be healthy.

Every year, Ty Lee cheered when fall came and sighed in disappointment when it turned to winter.

* * *

If questioned, Mai would answer that she preferred winter to the other seasons. 

For most people, winter was boring. For her, winter brought peace that the other seasons did not. People too depressed to see the mostly dead world would retreat indoors and leave her alone.

Fall was too bright and still cheerful. Spring was too happy and colorful. It brought the people out again and talking, playing, being happy.

Every year, Mai watched the world die and sighed as it came to life again.


End file.
